Golden Oscars Interview
Graphic by Libby Karol
The 97th annual Oscars was definitely a show to remember, with both correct predictions and obvious upsets. The event started with the iconic and awaited red carpet of A-List stars, showcasing the perfect harmony between film and fashion.
This year’s Academy Awards included many first-time Oscar winners. Host Conan O’Brien brought many funny one-liners to the show, including the addition of the Dune sandworm prop.
The biggest winner of the night was “Anora”, an independent film that swept the stage taking home five awards for Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role. Mikey Madison, who won Best Actress, joined the short list of women to have won the award under 30.
Sean Baker, director of Anora, was invited onto the stage three times to accept awards for the film. He used one of his acceptance speeches to highlight the importance of bringing back going to movie theaters as common practice.
Presenters this year had a new approach, for several of the nominations other members of their respective casts individually presented nominees with a heartfelt message about the importance of their work. During the presentation for Best Costume Design, Elle Fanning, Lily-Rose Depp, John Lithgow, Connie Nielson and Bowen Yang presented their co-stars' nominations.
“The Brutalist” won three Oscars Sunday including Best Actor, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.
Adrien Brody walked away from this year's award season with the Best Actor in a Leading Role award for his performance in The Brutalist. This was seen as a big upset due to the expectation of a win for Timothée Chalamet for his role in A Complete Unknown. Many fans are upset about this win due to the use of AI in The Brutalist.
Brody also went over the allotted amount of time for his acceptance speech, the wrap-up music started to play and he demanded the orchestra to stop playing. Later, fueling a joke by Kieran Culkin in his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor.
“Wicked: Part I” was expected to win several of the bigger awards of the show, however the film only won Best Product Design and Best Costume Design. Paul Tazewell, who was also a designer at the Guthrie Theater from 1995 to 2008, became the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design.
“Dune: Part Two” was nominated for five awards and won Best Sound and Best Special Visual Effects.
The award show was available to stream on Hulu, however the site is getting hate due to the crash that happened right before the Best Actress award presentation. Viewers expressed their disappointment through X, explaining the inconvenience this presented them with.
Although Hollywood stars receive a lot of hate, they sure know how to put on a show. This year's Academy Awards was one for the books, just cross your fingers that Wicked: For Good, planning to be released in November, gets better treatment at next year's Oscars.